Strength under pressure

Istanbul transgender community on display at MSU photo exhibit

Stepping into a photo gallery at the Michigan State
University Museum, a playful woman on a rooftop greets you. This is
Filiz, a transgender in Istanbul.

The joy radiating from her in the photo eases the audience
into a collection of portraits that explores the lives of individuals,
which at times are the very opposite of Filiz’s demeanor.

Photographer Mary Robert brings the
personal lives of transgender people in Istanbul, Turkey, into the
public light through her “East Meets West: The Transgender Community of
Istanbul” exhibit at the MSU Museum. Robert delivers a guest lecture at 1
p.m. Saturday, at the MSU Union, in partnership with the Midwest
Bisexual Lesbian Gay Transgender Ally College Conference in Lansing (see
page 14).

It’s not a stretch to say that Robert, the dean of
learning, teaching and curriculum development at Richmond University,
London, also doubles as her photo subjects’ confidant. Most captions
that accompany her work add context to the photos in the subject’s own
words, a powerful reflection of the trust they have in Robert.

“Two months ago when you photographed me, I was just
starting to change. Now that the hormones are doing their job, I’m
feeling more comfortable — and even more sexy,” says Ebru, in the
portrait “Ebru with crinkly hair.”

The intimate disclosure of these women is captured
throughout the collection. The photos range from formal portraits to
candid moments, but in all of them the subjects are in their element.
Robert captures their vibrant personalities and emotions. From Filiz and
Ebru to Irem, a transgender whose femininity is not pronounced, the
exhibition is filled with diversity.

There are reportedly 2,000 to 3,000 transexuals at
different stages of transition from male to female in Istanbul, a city
of 13.5 million people. The exhibit is meant to show strength in a place
where transexuals face pressures from the Turkish culture around them.

Jim Lawton, an MSU art professor and curator for East
Meets West, saw Robert’s work at an exhibition where they were both
presenting.

Robert will visit MSU to share the experiences and interactions she shared with the women.

“It will be more of a storytelling rather than a lecture
about her work,” Lawton said. The 15 photos at the MSU Museum are just a
portion of Robert’s entire project. Both Lawton and Robert hand-picked
the images that would best represent the theme but that also fit the
space in the museum. The utmost attention was paid to every detail of
the gallery.

“There are no frames around the
photographs,” Lawton said. “It was very important to Mary that there be
no hard edges, no barriers between the pictures and the viewer.”